Saturday, April 22, 2006

My colleague, Mr. Rashid Shahin, wrote an analysis for the Palestinian Prime Minister's speech on April 14th:

Haniyeh's Friday Noon Speech - Many layers of Meaning

In his Friday Noon Prayer Speech, Palestinian Prime Minister, Mr. Ismael Haniyeh, called on the Palestinian people to make olives, thyme and olive oil a staple of their meals, pointing to the strangling economic crisis hovering on the horizon. This crisis was being caused by the suspension of US and EU aid to the Palestinian government and people, in a step that Palestinians view as supporting and backing the Israeli decision to collectively punish Palestinians for democratically electing the Hamas Movement on 25 January 2006.Thyme, olive oil and olives, for those who don't know, is a substantial meal- especially when eaten in the morning, which is when it is most commonly eaten in Palestine. These are the most common components of breakfast in Palestine, and they have great nutritional value.The Israeli mass media quoted the speech out of context, and made irresponsible and pathetic comments about it. Had it been the Americans or Europeans who discussed his comments in this way, it might have been understood and accepted by Palestinians, as they may have little knowledge about Palestinians food, meals, or way of life.The Israeli mass media should have looked at the topic of food, if not as occupiers, then at least like neighbors, who are familiar with the people they are talking about. They are totally aware of the diet of Arabs and are well-able to give a detailed menu of Palestinian and Arabs foo.This is the least they can do, having stolen even the food that Palestinians have eaten for thousands of years, and claiming it as their own cultural heritage, which they have brought from the Diaspora when they fled Egypt, according to their own Judaic beliefs.The Israeli governments now impose steep fines on Palestinians who try to collect thyme, which is eaten in most meals. Israelis justify these fines by saying that Palestinians are investing it and using it for medicinal purposes.The Israeli media's treatment of the speech was subjective and superficial - either because they could not read between the lines or because they were not willing to do so.Haniyeh's speech had layers of meanings and like those who listened to him, Haniyeh himself knows well that the sky does not send rain of silver or gold; and that the world will not turn upside down and allow the fish in the sea to fall into the hands of people so that they will have fish to eat.For those who wanted to know what Haniyeh was thinking, there was a layer of meaning, but for those who want to ignore reality, there was nothing in his speech- not even thyme and olives.Haniyeh placed responsibility for the consequences of any starvation that may occur in Palestine, squarely on the shoulders of countries in the region and those in the International community that support the blockade and suspension of aid to the Palestinian Government. He was warning those behind these decisions to be afraid of the rage, anger and revolt they will awaken in the people if they were hungry and unable to feed their families. He was also warning of terrible reactions from the people if children became sick because of the lack or shortage of food. He was saying, as it is the duty of a Muslim to say “God is a witness, God know that I have informed you.”Those who trivialize and under-estimate the importance of Haniyeh's words are mistaken, as they failed to hear what he wanted them to hear, and heard only what they wanted to hear.The huge demonstrations in the streets after the speech and prayer showed that the speech accurately reflected the level of frustration and pent-up anger in the hearts of people. The demonstrations are a reflection of how dangerous the next phase will be, as the slogans that the crowds shouted out and the statements they made pointed to a looming danger.Some historically moderate leaders of Hamas say that it is the start of a new era and that the conflict will start to take a different shape. They say that the threat of “Zarqawi- style” operations is new to the Palestinian mentality. It is also a pointer which shows what the Palestinian may do if he is going to suffer anymore: He is going to eat the flesh of his guard, as he would not accept to eat just thyme and olives.And to those who are trying to underestimate the seriousness of the impact of starvation, they should be more careful as the next meal for the starving Palestinian, may be his own flesh and blood.

33 Comments:

". . .having stolen even the food that Palestinians have eaten for thousands of years, and claiming it as their own cultural heritage, which they have brought from the Diaspora when they fled Egypt, according to their own Judaic beliefs."

That's really a strange thing to say, considering that Islam is a religion which has been based largely upon concepts stolen from Judaism and Christianity!!! My goodness! You have put one of your holy sites upon the Jews' holiest sites -- in English we call that a "pissing contest." The you copped the whole story of Abraham and Isaac, inserting Ishmael instead. You have usurped all the Jewish holy sites in the land of Israel, laying claim to them as your own. What spiritual plagiary!

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

Imagine my surprise when I read an article in the MSM about an "Islamic concept" of 36 righteous souls upon whom the entire world rests at any given time. This is a JEWISH concept! They are called "lamed vavniks." And Judaism is thousands of years older than Islam is, so three guesses as to who is stealing from whom.

Good golly, don't you people ever study history? You should be humiliated. (oh, wait . . . )

I don't know what History you read Wessel, but it seems to be very "objective"! Since you believe your history and claim that ours is not believable at all, or that we don't read it in the first place, I would strongly recommend you that before you set your mind on who is right and who is wrong you hear at least for one time the story from the other side instead of swallwing what is dictated to you. The day that za'atar becomes Jewish I guess would be the day that I do too.

You mean za'atar which means hyssop, not thyme. It is also mentioned in the Bible! Folks - what the F does it matter whose food it is. It is indigenous to the region, which is why it is mentioned in the Bible. We are the children of Abraham. I love bread dipped in olive oil and zaatar (a traditional biblical/Palestinian dish).

I think its a fallacy to assume that one side has the original, true version of history, which the other side stole and corrupted. everyone constructs the facts of history to suit their own needs.

khaled- why do you need to claim za'atar as only arab and not Jewish? Aside from it's ritual use in the bible, the majority of Israelis came from Arab lands, and their food is more similar to arab than european food.

wessel- our own tradition does not argue with the arabs identity as decendents of Abraham. their version of the story may be as old as ours. if we have the same stories, lets pray for the time we can sit down and learn them together; if we eat the same food, maybe one day we'll find it easier to sit down to a meal together.

I dont mean to whitewash or ignore the larger conflict, but these just seem like really pointless things to fight over.-sm

As much as I love reading your stories , in equal terms I hate laying an eye on them! They are only a constant reminder of an injury, an insult to a collective soul I can not refrain from feeling and tasting every single time I read about what these "people" are doing to our country.

Is there a way to stop crying? Is there a way to cool down the rage? Does anyone know a recipe against stranlging people like "wessel"? Does anyone on this blog know of a method to reconcile one's self with the abundant violence in my heart growing up with no country and being terrorized on a daily basis by some ignorant, retarded folk claiming kin to a god who's entire existence they deny?

If any Palestinian has ever found peace of heart despite all what has befallen our nation, drop me a line. Let me share in that magic potion, ,let me take a look at your holy grail. Or help me find mine before I implode.

Khaled, I think the point is that Judaism is thousands of years older than Islam. Islam was created around 700 CE, and it has stolen much from Judaism. Christianity has also stolen from Judaism, but that is neither here nor there. Yes, Ishmael was a son of Abraham -- Jewish tradition teaches this. Beyond that one thing we can agree on, you have to admit that Muslims and Christians have both taken a lot of liberty with Jewish spiritual tradition and concepts, and in most cases, distorted them terribly. Why argue that you discovered thyme? Who cares? You can have it. Good grief. It is much more bothersome to me that so many people are very ignorant of Islam's spiritual thievery.

I am glad that anonymous decides to remain so. Frankly, I wish that this person would exercise a bit more discretion when posting comments on this blog. This should be a forum for genuine and thoughtful exchange, not a venue for inflammatory rhetoric. Please refrain from terminology the likes of "sub-human savages." You likely don't want to be associated with the kinds of folks who used that phrase before you; Nazi's, Hutu's, the Janjaweed, Serbs, Early American & Australian colonists. "Subhuman savages" is the language of genocide. Please refrain from it on this site.

Pete, let me ask you something: do you think homicide bombers are anything other than subhuman savages?

Do you have anyone in your life that you dearly love? A wife perhaps, a child, a mother? Do you think you'd be as prone to smug and self-righteous comments if your child was a victim of a homicide bomber and suffered burns over 60% of her body? What if your pregnant wife and all your children were shot in the head by one of these "freedom fighters"? There, did you find that term less offensive? We can call them freedom fighters if you wish, so long as we take care to define that term in all its gory detail each time. Personally, I find "subhuman savage" far more honest and accurate.

We in Israel have been dealing with these subhuman savages for years now. But your turn is coming -- I assume you are from a western country -- terror cells are everywhere just waiting to be activated and in case you weren't aware, I'm pretty sure they don't stop and ask their victims, "Excuse me, are you a Useful Idiot in the sympathetic service of Muslim extremists? Oh, you are? Kindly exit this bus now, as it is going to explode in a few moments. Thank you."

Man, you just can't make this stuff up! This is the reason why no one respects Islam:

HARPER'S MAGAZINE

"I'm Hatin' It"

Posted on Monday, May 22, 2006.

From a September interview with Rashad Akhtar, a twenty-seven-year-old British Muslim, who alleges that the graphic used on the lid of Burger King ice-cream cones resembles the Arabic spelling of “Allah.” The interview was conducted by Davina Patel, a reporter for the London newspaper Eastern Eye. Burger King apologized and said they would redesign the lid. Originally from Harper's Magazine, March 2006. Sources

The Enlightenment happened at half past 12 a.m. in Burger King, Park Royal. I had ordered my food, and a French guy got talking to me and asked, “Are you Muslim?” He said, “Look at this,” and he showed me the cone. I saw it and I thought, “Wow,” like anyone would. He said, “Turn it around.”

I was thinking of my stomach. I was hungry. I would have loved to eat an ice cream. When I saw it, my mouth fell open. I dropped the ice cream. I canceled my order. That was the defining moment of my life.

The Burger King logo is there in Arabic. “Allah” is spelled exactly how it is there, and the Burger King logo is where the ominah should be. Why, there is no way it could be a coincidence. How can you say it is a spinning swirl? How does it spin on something that is static? You cannot spin it around unless you have a mechanical device. You spin it one direction, to the right, and it is offending a billion people.

I’m not talking about Muslims in the Park Royal vicinity, or in the U.K. I’m talking about globally. Everyone who sees this is going to be offended. If you put a different symbol on there, you’re offending Jews, Christians, Sikhs, or Hindus. I am going to try my best in life, so that these people do not operate in a single Muslim country again, so that we get an apology to every single Muslim on this planet in their language, in their country, on a national TV station: “Sorry. We, as an American company, are sorry. We didn’t mean to offend you.”

What angers me most is that most people, once they have finished with it, they look at it and say, “Nice cone. Nice design. Nice cone design.” They chuck it away. That is disrespectful. Don’t throw it away. Keep it as evidence. A reminder of what these people are doing every single day of our lives.

We showed this to Muslim customers in Burger King and they were disgusted. We went to the manager. “Is this true?” we asked. He said, “Yes, my brother. It is true.” I spoke to two other Pakistani Muslim guys there and they said, “We are sickened.” They were cussing Burger King.

I feel humiliated. I want to humiliate the person who did this to an extent that he never works again. I’m going to make him see that it was the biggest mistake in his life. I want to meet the guy. I want to ask the guy, “What does this mean to you?” then never see his face again.

In a way, I’m glad he did this to me. It has opened my eyes. The fear of God, the love of God, the love of not letting anyone disrespect God. Even though it means nothing to some people and may mean nothing to some Muslims in this country, this is my jihad. I’m not going to rest until I find the person who is responsible. I’m going to bring this country down.

The humanitarian crisis of the Palestinians is a tragedy of their own leadership's making. They've received billions in free money to create a virtual welfare state whose main export is terrorism and professional victimhood. Why should the world continue to fund a corrupt terrorist oligarchy who spends its welfare money on guns, rockets, suicide bomb belts and lets its educational and medical infrastructure collapse? If the Palestinians can smuggle drugs, weapons and whores through their tunnels, certainly they can get food and medicine in.

Your rhetoric and style of framing an argument are manipulative. You choose to center discussion on the end result of a long process rather than allowing any room for discussion of that process. By avoiding this element you deprive yourself and others of a reasonable view of the situation.

I disagree with suicide bombing and the other acts of terrorism you mentioned. Not only do these actions kill innocent civilians, they undermine the legitimacy of the Palestinian struggle. If Palestinians would remain non-violent, holding mass candlelit vigils at checkpoints around Nablus and Karni Israel would encounter increased difficulty colonizing Palestinian land. By terrorizing Israeli civilians, the Palestinians provide the Israeli right with the excuses necessary to continue the occupation and colonization of the West Bank. Remove the security issue and Israel would not longer have an excuse to retain control over the lands it covets.

More to your point regarding “sub-human savages,” I’ll offer a few thoughts. I am wary of ever using terminology that denies humanity to a group of people, regardless of their crimes. Denying humanity to a collective group is often a prelude to genocide. My feel here is that suicide bombers were not born with inherent hatred towards Jews or Israelis. They were not born as blood-thirsty savages. Gradually, through years of suffering and humiliation at the hands of Israeli soldiers who systematically deny them freedom, they became willing to kill. They kill in ways that are so egregious because they lack the capacity to kill in more “acceptable” ways [sic].

Suicide bombing is a relatively new phenomenon, beginning in the mid-90’s. It is not an ancient Islamic tradition or something that Palestinians/Arabs are inherently inclined towards. Moreover, I believe that no Palestinian would forfeit his/her life to kill Israeli civilians if he/she could fight the Israeli military in a reasonable way.

Israelis and their supports harp on Palestinian terrorist tactics as the worst crimes imaginable. I ask, would it be better if the Palestinians were militarily equipped to challenge Israel in a way that negated their need for terrorist tactics? This would mean a substantial increase in Israeli deaths (albeit perhaps fewer innocent civilians are more targeted individuals). Palestinian choppers could make raids over Tel Aviv and fire hellfire missiles at the commanders of Israeli army brigades. Palestinian army units could storm Jerusalem neighborhoods arresting off duty Israeli soldiers for abuses they commit in the Territories. Palestinian air force would fire rockets into settlements where right wing settlers were planning illegal activities. When Israelis fought back against Palestinian forces, they would be called “terrorists.” If this situation could be realized, I’m sure we see a stark decline of the dreaded suicide bombings.

."Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now prepareyourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.

"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if youhave understanding. Who determined its measurements?

Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy? "Or who shut in the sea with doors, When it burst forth and issued from the womb; When I made the clouds its garment, And thick darkness its swaddling band; When I fixed My limit for it, And set bars and doors; When I said, 'This far you may come, but no farther, And here your proud waves must stop!'

"Have you commanded the morning since your days began, And caused the dawn to know its place, That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, Andthe wicked be shaken out of it? It takes on form like clay under a seal, And stands out like a garment. From the wicked their light is withheld, Andthe upraised arm is broken.

"Have you entered the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in search of the depths? Have the gates of death beenrevealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death? Haveyou comprehended the breadth of the earth?

Tell Me, if you know all this.

"Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is itsplace, That you may take it to its territory, That you may know the paths to its home?

Do you know it, because you were born then, Or because the number of your days is great? "Have you entered the treasury of snow, Or have you seen the treasury of hail, Which I have reserved for the time of trouble, For the day of battle and war? By what way is light diffused, Orthe east wind scattered over the earth?

"Who has divided a channel for the overflowing water, Or a path for thethunderbolt, To cause it to rain on a land where there is no one, A wilderness in which there is no man; To satisfy the desolate waste, And cause to spring forth the growth of tender grass?

Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?

From whose womb comes the ice? And thefrost of heaven, who gives it birth?

The waters harden like stone, And thesurface of the deep is frozen. "Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loose the belt of Orion? Can you bring out Mazzaroth in its season? Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs? Do you know the ordinances ofthe heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth? "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That an abundance of water may cover you? Can yousend out lightnings, that they may go, And say to you, 'Here we are!'? Whohas put wisdom in the mind?

Or who has given understanding to the heart?

Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven, When the dust hardens in clumps, And the clods cling together?

"Can you hunt the prey for the lion, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, When they crouch in their dens, Or lurk in their lairs to lie in wait?

Who provides food for the raven, When its young ones cry to God, Andwander about for lack of food?

Great site - keep up the great work. Here’s my question. Since it’s clear that by the end of this year, or sometime next year the latest, Iran will use its arsenal to finally strike the zionists from Palestine, probably through nuclear force, we can finally start to talk rationally about making plans to let the Palestinians return to their homeland. The zionists will not stay if their fragile and cowardly society is seriously hurt by Iran but most of the infrastructure will be left intact. So my question is, now that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel what steps are folks actually making to plan for this great day? How can we help. Thanks. And again keep up the good work.

Congratulations on a beautiful websiteLoved everything on your site and you did a magnificent job. You should be proud of yourselfif youhave just a minute, visit me back and live a comment with your link, so other Italian people will be able to visit your blogElisa

Please consider writing news pieces or an op-ed for Jewrusalem: Israeli Uncensored News. We strive to present different views and opinions while rejecting political correctness. Ideally, we try to make the news "smart and funny." Thus, your input is very welcome.

I just watched the movie Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land. I don't know if you've seen it. There's so much racism and when the racists have guns, tanks and support by their own people, well it's disastrous. Even the internet bullys. It all has to change!

It is a hard mission to try and find a drop of sanity in this part of the world, The Land of Sad Oranges.
Though changes take place here everyday, it's all happening under the skin. The bigger picture continues to be the same.
This blog is my attempt to clutch to sanity, and give another voice from Palestine.
(A Big ThankYou to Lisa!)